Power Wheels: Casket Cart

One of the first things I thought when I got to Vietnam was "OMG!  That's a lot of motorbikes!"  The streets host a constantly-honking, thick-n-steady stream of motorbikes careening haphazardly forward, spilling unto sidewalks, lurching around eachother, and causing what appears to be general mayhem but that somehow manages, despite appearances, to be a smoothly operating traffic system.  I've heard that taking a motorbike ride can be a harrowing experience for a car-coddled American.  I have enough trouble just crossing the street! 

Mixed amongst the motorbikes are rickshaws, bikes, and peddled three-wheelers.  One thing that constantly amuses me is how much these little transporters can carry.  There are things strapped to motorbikes and bicycles that most Americans would take one look at and think, "I need a bigger trunk for that--or a moving van."

So, I intend to make "Power Wheels" a regular series featuring the amazing and amusing feats of Hanoi's wheeled wonders.  The first of this series begins with:

Casket Cart:  I hope there isn't a dead body in there.

Black Market Bounty

The black market is thriving in Hanoi.  The streets are positively cluttered with black marketeers selling everything from post cards to beef.  In fact, just outside my front door are five or six little old ladies selling fruits and vegetables.

Of course, the first thing is to determine which little old lady is going to give a fair price.  The ladies just outside my door are outrageously prices, so Kris and I head to the Old Quarter for my produce.  There we find one grayed granny with everything we need laid out in plastic baskets on the sidewalk.  After a minimal amount of bargaining, we agree to buy a bag stuffed with goodies for around $2 US. 

Except, half way through filling our order, the tiny gray-haired woman jumps up quicker than lightening, grabs all the baskets and runs into a darkened hair salon across the street.  We are left bewildered on the sidewalk, saying "WTF?!"  But it quicky becomes clear to me what is happening when a moment later a police van cruises down the street.  Once the cops are gone, the lady comes back with a smile and rearranges her goods on the sidewalk. 

We got our bag of groceries and several more along the same street from similar black market grannies.  At the end of the shopping excursion, we had bought a variety of fruits and veggies totalling about $6 US.  We also got a new copy of the Lonely Planet Guide to Vietnam for $5. 

So Long Seoul. Hello Hanoi.

My time in South Korea has come to an end, and I now find myself in the beautiful and bustling city of Hanoi, Vietnam.  So far, I love it here.  My first impressions are:

The city is so rich with color that, after gray-toned Korea, my eyes are nearly burning.  In Korea, the buildings are mostly gray faux-marble, box-shaped structures with little variety in shape or height.  In Vietnam, the building are either tall, skinny buildings of various heights with random shapes jutting out of them, or they are huge and fanciful Parisian estates.  They come on all colors of the rainbow, the most popular being a bright mustard color. 

As an American, I'll smile at anyone and anything even when I'm not happy.  Koreans don't smile as generally and opening as I'm used to.  This isn't necessarily a bad trait of Korean culture.  It's simply different and slightly unnerving to constantly see people that look sad or angry (even when they are not).  So, I'm thrilled to see smiling faces in Vietnam.  The Vietnamese seem to be a genuinely happy and amiable people. 

Another bonus is that Vietnam has a performing and visual arts community--something that was lacking in the small town of Chungju, South Korea.  I can attend traditional or modern performances at many venues or view paintings displayed by sidewalk vendors just by taking a short walk out my front door. 

Finally, the Vietnamese alphabet is similar to the English alphabet, so it is much more intuitive for me than Hangul (the Korean alphabet).  I did learn to read Hangul, but at a slow kindergarten-like pace.  My young students got a good laugh every time I had to read their Korean names aloud.  With any luck, I'll pick up some basic Vietnamese rather quickly.

You can still follow the last of my Korean adventures at http://www.chungjuicy.blogspot.com/.  I have a few more sightseeing posts that I want to share including some pictures of gorgeous Korean palaces.

I would really LOVE for you to sign up to "follow" this blog.  I had 16 followers and over 1000 hits on ChungJuicy and hope to beat those statistics on VietNaomi.  As always, I love reading your comments and encourage any suggestions about content.